Monthly Archives: November 2019

What’s better than your first booking? How about TWO first bookings right on top of one another? ‘Traxer JOHN ELEBY doesn’t seem to mind one little bit! In his own words:

“Hey all! Sooooo… I feel all giddy still, but so much of the advice you have given was so spot on!! I had received three messages or checks for “availability” on Voice123, but one was in New York, another was for native German, and a third was for an actual female voice… Instead of feeling down about it, I kept plugging along and submitting for jobs I felt I could A) do well and B) were worth my time. After a few weeks I got a message that a marching band was interested in an impersonation from a demo! I recorded a short script in a James Earl Jones ‘Mufasa’ voice and … bam! First job! While I was still excited about that, I got another message for a ‘slight German accent’ character for a podcast. Recorded that and sent the best two takes and they were happy with it, hopefully more episodes to come!

Biggest lesson was: It’s not rejection, it’s selection… Keep plugging away at these jobs and something good will come. Second was treat every submission as an opportunity. I make sure to make solid acting choices for each script, regardless of length or pay. And I can definitely hear the difference when I have a good acting choice to guide me, vs… not.

Can’t thank you guys enough for the guidance and knowledge so far. I know I’m still beginner/scratching the surface of this world, but I AM HOOKED… and you’re stuck with me. :)”

CONGRATULATIONS, John! And trust us, “sticking” with it will work out to be a very good thing.😎

PRISONERS OF OUR OWN DEVICE… having spent decades guiding thousands of students through the subtleties of acting with their voices, you might expect Owner and Founder Samantha Paris to favor person-to-person conversation over emails and texts – but it goes even deeper than that! For insights on using your voice OUTSIDE the booth to break the tyranny of technology and rescue the dying art of conversation, Samantha’s penned this illuminating piece for Swaay:

A RECIPE FOR VOICE-ACTING SUCCESS: take equal parts hard work and diligent perfecting of your skills. Mix in two parts patience, and KEEP AT IT UNTIL YOU ARE READY. And when you’re ready, not one minute before, add in a demo produced by Voicetrax, the people who’ve been with you through every step of your training, watched you develop, and really KNOW how to tell your story to the best possible effect. THEN, finish with a contract from a Bay Area agency! ‘Traxers HEATHER WAGENFELD, ARI SIGAL, JULIE HANCOCK and PAT FORAN all followed the recipe, and now ALL of them have been signed by STARS, THE AGENCY – in no small part on the strength of their demos.

CONGRATULATIONS, Heather, Ari, Julie and Pat! You’ve worked very hard to get to this and you never stopped believing, and we’re beyond thrilled at the success coming for each one of you!